Thrown Together
by calamityglam
Summary: "It was becoming increasingly obvious to Eli Goldsworthy, and to the majority of the class of 2012 of Degrassi Community School, that Marisol Lewis did not know how to shut her highly glossed mouth." When Marisol and Eli get thrown together to a writing project, will they be able to work effectively? And what about when tragedy strikes? *Re-uploaded, previously Quite Frankly*
1. Chapter 1

It was becoming increasingly obvious to Eli Goldsworthy, and to the majority of the class of 2012 of Degrassi Community School, that Marisol Lewis did not know how to shut her highly glossed mouth.

She was giving speech in the creative writing class she shared with Eli about her beliefs. Of course, Ms. Dawes did this to stir up conversation in the student body every year, and it had been one of the few things Eli was truly looking forward to about the course. But it was idiots like Marisol that made Eli irritated to no end.

"Okay, I can't take anymore of this." Eli said, rather loudly, stopping Marisol in her tracks.

"Mr. Goldsworthy. Something you'd like to say?" Ms. Dawes asked. Eli's eyes widened a little. Dawes motioned for him to go to the front of the room. "By all means." She said, then curled her arms back into her body, the fingers of her left hand touching her chin.

Eli looked at Marisol, and her visage was priceless, mortification with a dash of fury tossed in for good measure. The black-clad boy walked to the side of the podium and looked up at the darker girl. He looked back at the rest of his classmates for a moment, trying to fit together his words, and then he spoke.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Marisol, but you are quite possibly the dumbest person I have ever met." Marisol gasped, her jaw slack and her eyes showing Eli that she had, in fact, taken his statement the wrong way. Eli sighed.

"Your opinions are approaching ambiguity and those that aren't are borderline offensive. To be honest, I'm not sure how you wound up in this class." Eli told her, shaking his head almost sympathetically. He saw that his classmates were laughing quietly and it encouraged him.

"Isn't it true that we all had to write an essay submission to be a part of this class? The entire year, you've been pulling these hardly creative works surely out of your ass and quite frankly I'm wondering if you didn't pay some freshman to do it for you." Eli said, turning to his classmates for their approval. All of them were snickering. Marisol was the laughing stock of the class, and everyone knew it except for the girl in question. It was really kind of sad, when you thought about it. She had no idea what being a writer meant. She was in the class for the English credit, and it was blatantly obvious. Marisol stood there stunned for another moment.

"Quite frankly, you're an ass." She said, abandoning her prompting cards and storming out of the room. After a minute, one of the girls in the class started clapping and was joined by several of their classmates. Eli stood before the podium and took a theatrical bow. He had just made a fool of the most feared girl in the senior class. He didn't know whether he should be proud or ashamed of himself.

Either way, it had gotten a laugh.


	2. Chapter 2

Marisol. Was. Humiliated. She knew that she wasn't necessarily the brightest crayon in the box. Hell, she had had to drop AP English earlier in the year because she got overwhelmed, but that had to with the fact she was taking two other AP classes on top of that, and something had to go! She wasn't happy about it by any means. Marisol Lewis was no quitter, that was certain. She had never reached a point in her life where she had to look at herself and say "I'm in over my head." But it had happened. She was ashamed of herself. She had cried to Mo for hours because she felt like a complete failure. He had only been half listening, of course, but who could blame him? Marisol was a bit of a drama queen at times, and she knew it. She was surprised that Mo even still put up with her. She was surprised when anyone put up with her because they actually cared about her. Sometimes it didn't even feel like Mo did care about her. She got the notion that he was just like every other guy she'd ever dated- in it because they wanted her body, not her brain.

Marisol sighed, ambling through the halls of Degrassi thinking about what Eli had said.

_"Don't take this the wrong way, Marisol, but you are quite possibly the dumbest person I have ever met._" What kind of person could say something like that? Eli had spoken maybe five words to Marisol in his year at Degrassi. Tops. She didn't really mind. He seemed a little odd to her. She had heard about everything that he'd done for his last girlfriend. Clare Edwards was a saint, and he had tried to sacrifice himself for her. But that hadn't worked out so well for him.  
Marisol sat beneath the grand staircase and stared out the window sullenly. It hurt that he'd said that. But he _was_ Eli Goldsworthy. He was Dawes' prodigy and he could do no wrong, obviously. Marisol heard footstep down the hall and hoped that whoever it was didn't see her. She would probably just wind up lashing out at them because she didn't like for people to see when she was upset.  
But it just had to be Eli, didn't it? The black clad boy sat breathlessly on the bench across from her, but she didn't look at him.

"What do you want?" Marisol asked him. She couldn't care less what his answer was, all she knew was that he was horrible, and the last person she wanted to see.

Eli sat there for a minute, seemingly trying to catch his breath.

"I came to apologize. Or at least, I was told to apologize. For embarrassing you." He said without sincerity.

"Well, as far as Dawes goes, your apology is accepted, but you really don't need to. I don't care what you have to say about me." Marisol told him, crossing her arms in defiance.

The dark-haired boy sighed once again.

"God, can you stop that? I don't want you breathing all over me." She said in an irritated tone. Eli's eyes widened.

"You're incorrigible." He said, clearly exasperated with her.

"You can use your vocab words all you want, but what you said was still uncalled for."

"How was it uncalled for? Every single thing I said was the truth, and something makes me think that you know that." He said.

Marisol's jaw hung a little, but she snapped it shut quickly and looked away. Eli smirked at her and crossed his arms.

"I knew it." He said smugly and Marisol shot him a look. They sat there in silence for a minute before Eli spoke again.

"Dawes wants us to be writing partners. That was the other thing I needed to tell you." He said. Marisol was about to protest but Eli interrupted her.

"I know, I don't like it either. But there's no arguing with that woman. She assigned everyone else partners too. It's not just us. But she figured since you made me think, I needed to be paired with you. So maybe you'll finally learn that there are opinions other than yours, princess." Eli said, standing up starting to walk back toward the classroom, leaving Marisol dumbfounded. He turned toward her again.

"You should really be shocked more often. Shows you're actually thinking for once." He said with his signature smirk.

_'What an asshole,'_ Marisol thought, shaking her head as she watched him walk away. It would be an interesting quarter.

About that, she had no doubt.


	3. Chapter 3

To say the least, Eli Goldsworthy was irritated. Here he was, sitting at Little Miss Steaks on a Friday night, and he was being stood up by a girl who wasn't even his date. He'd been surprised when Marisol actually decided that they needed to do Ms. Dawes' assignment instead of just pretending like they were working on it. He'd been even more surprised when she had insisted they meet at Little Miss Steaks, but he agreed. It wasn't as though he had anything better to do. But she was at least twenty minutes late. He hadn't looked at his watch, because it would have just irritated him more. Eli might have had nothing else to do, but the last thing he wanted to be doing was waiting for the most popular girl in school to show up and make him look like an idiot. He had resolved that he would leave in five minutes if she didn't show. those five minutes passed, and he stood up to leave, turning around to get his coat. Suddenly, a soft body bumped into him, and Eli fell back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Eli!" A voice said. It turned out to be Marisol. Eli took in her appearance, noting that she had the most utterly ridiculous (pun intended) cow print western get up on. Eli gave her an incredulous look.

"You work here?" He asked. Marisol nodded.

"Yeah, and I hated asking you to come, but I have family stuff going on this weekend. We'd have never gotten the chance to get any work done unless I took tonight off, and I couldn't, so I invited you." She explained, her tone a little anxious. "Please stay? Drinks and nachos are on meeee?" She said, trying to entice him with free stuff. It was working. Eli nodded and took his coat back off. Marisol smiled at him.

"Great! Let me finish up this table, put in the nacho order, and I'll grab some drinks. Be back in a jiff!" She said, rushing off to do her job. Eli shook his head and laughed at the girl. She seemed to be so together, but so all over the place at the same time. There had to be to of her, he decided.

A few minutes later, Marisol came back, a three ring binder in her hands. "So, Dawes' assignment was to describe a 'first.' I finished the assignment yesterday... I didn't really keep the boy psyche in mind? I decided to go with my first kiss." She told him, seemingly a little embarrassed. She slid it over to him and looked at him expectantly.

Eli sighed and looked down at his own binder. "Don't worry. I wrote about mine too." He told her. Eli had gotten into the habit of going to Ms. Dawes a few days before she handed out the next assignment to ask her what it was. She knew about Julia, of course- when Eli had first arrived at Degrassi, Ms. Dawes had been the teacher he'd grown to like the quickest, so he'd decided to tell her. Sometimes, when the assignments got a little personal, Ms. Dawes would exempt him from presenting. Eli had known about this assignment ahead of time and took his sweet time writing it. Julia had been his first kiss. It was the beginning of his freshman year at his old school and they were sitting under the bleachers in the gym during PE. It had not been a pleasant experience, unfortunately.

Eli was hesitant about letting Marisol see his work. He thought that she would probably find it pretentious, because that's exactly the way he'd written it. Eli made it a point not to write about how Julia told him he was a horrible kisser. He made it a point not to write any bad memories of her. Sometimes, he made it a point not to write about her at all, but she was with him through a lot of firsts. She'd been with him when he'd gotten Morty, she was his first sexual partner. she even went with him to his first dance.

But regardless, if Marisol was willing to share hers, he was willing to share his. He slid his binder over as well.

They each opened the other's binder and started reading. Eli was more of a read-and-review editor, where as Marisol had pulled out a read pen and it looked like his paper was about to be sacrificed. However, he looked up every so often, and she hadn't made any marks on it. That filled Eli with pride somewhat. Once they had both finished, they looked up at each other and tried to speak at the same time. Marisol laughed.

"I'm sorry, you go ahead." She told him.

"Well, first off, I like the idea of a nameless character. It kind of makes the story relatable to a lot of people, because there was no specific face I was imagining." Eli told her. Marisol nodded.

"Good, because I didn't want anyone to figure out who it was anyway." She told him, her voice a little was about to ask for a little more, but she looked uncomfortable, so he decided against it. Did he want to challenge her? Yes, but even Eli Goldsworthy still had a little heart left. Marisol looked down at his paper.

"There were a few things that were pretty unclear. I needed more detail, personally. It was long, but you kept going around in circles." She told him, grabbing a nacho and getting up from the table. "I have customers. Thanks for coming tonight. Same time next week?" She asked, not really waiting for an answer before she walked off.

"Wait!" Eli called, but she hadn't listened. He sighed and shook his head. He probably shouldn't have been, but Eli was becoming more and more curious about this seemingly bright girl. He got up from the table, put on his coat and took his binder with him, leaving a tip for the girl even though he hadn't bought anything. She deserved it.


	4. Chapter 4

"I look and I listen. Sometimes I watch. I watch him at games, and his gaze is so completely focused, and I remember why I had such a big crush on him. I used to think it was those blue eyes that blaze like ice, that waver like the sky. I used to think it was the way he could make everyone around him laugh so easily. But I know that it was the determination to succeed that I liked, the way he could set his eyes on something and get it no matter what the cost. That's how he came to be my first kiss." Ms. Dawes' third period creative writing class applauded for Marisol as she finished presenting her assignment. Even Eli had applauded, giving her one of his lopsided smirks. For some reason, that made her happy. Of course, she was still kind of skeptical about this writing partner thing, but what could she do about it? It was better not to rock the boat. Besides, her grade was probably going to improve, so what did care? She didn't mind Eli. Actually, she liked him. She liked the way he knew exactly how to tell her what she needed to do to fix her writing. And he wasn't bad to look at either, if she was being honest with herself. So she would tolerate him.

Marisol went to sit back down and Eli tapped her on the shoulder. She turned toward him and he smiled at her. It was a small smile, but it was a start. She was happy with it. They sat through the rest of the presentations, and she realized that Eli had never presented his. They each got up and she grabbed his shoulder. "Hey. I noticed you didn't read. It was really good, Eli. Why didn't you present?" She asked him. She wouldn't pry if he didn't want to answer, but she still was curious. Eli opened his mouth to answer and then shook his head. "Dawes and I have an agreement. Don't worry about it. The only person who really needed to see it was you." He said with a lopsided smirk. "I'll see you later, okay? We'll talk the next assignment tonight. I'll text you." He said as he walked down the hallway, lifting a hand in the air as a goodbye. Marisol shook her head. "That boy." She mumbled.

"What boy?" Katie asked her from her right side. Marisol smiled and turned around to face her best friend. "Just my writing partner. Dawes put me with Emo Boy, can you believe it?" She said, feeling a little bad for using the nickname, but she didn't want Katie to think she was getting too friendly with Eli. Katie rolled her eyes. "Well, that's just the kind of thing she would do. But I never wound up with a writing partner when I took her class. I guess I'm grateful that it wasn't him." Katie told her. Just then, Drew walked up to them, kissing his girlfriend on the cheek and pulling her away, surely to go out to Katie's car or something. It appeared as though she would be eating by herself. Again.

The dark girl walked into the cafeteria, not feeling much like eating the mystery meat that they were serving that day, so she just sat down at her regular table. After Katie had gotten together with Drew (or after Marisol's dishonorable resignation from the student council elections), she'd come to realize that eating alone wasn't so bad. The worst thing was when she didn't have headphones and music, because then she could hear the freshmen whispering about her. About how everyone thought she was the most popular girl in school, but she didn't even have a friend to sit with at lunch? But Marisol didn't care. She'd long ago gotten over the childish, petty talk of underclassmen. All she did was work on homework when Drew and Katie weren't there to hang out with her. She didn't care for other people- Katie had been her best friend for thirteen years, and Drew was someone Katie valued more than most people, so that made him okay, despite having ditched her on a date the previous year and choosing Katie over her. But then again, she couldn't blame him. Between the two of them, Katie was the one who got what she wanted. Guys, positions, friends- Katie got it all. And if their friendship suffered, Marisol was the one who sacrificed to save it. But that was what good friends were supposed to, right? They did for their best friends like they did for family.

Of course, family wouldn't abandon you at lunch hour. But as they say, c'est la vie.

She went through the rest of her day in a breeze. She wasn't worried about homework, what she wanted to focus on was getting to Power Squad practice. She didn't have a seventh period, so she went to the locker room and got ready, securing her hair in a pony tail. The practices felt like the most important ones to her. Marisol had to think about a captain for next year, but each one of her prospects was falling short. Her only real option was Santamaria, and she couldn't make a rising sophomore the captain, there would be a mutiny on Simpson's hands. She popped in her earbuds and went out to the gym, selecting Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics as her warm up song. She stretched silently until girls started to show up, and then she instructed the girls to change and come back and stretch themselves.

Once they were all stretched out, Marisol set her phone down on the bleacher and got their attention. "Alright, listen up. I've got to figure out which one of you is going to take over for me next year. And none of you are making the cut right now. You need to step it up. Like, yesterday. I may just have to fail a few classes to stay back and captain again next year." She said. "Now get it together! I want to see our regionals routine, rising seniors front and center, then rising juniors in the middle, rising sophomores in the back. Understood? Alright, let's go." Marisol commanded, clapping her hands and walking over toward the CD player. She sat on the bleacher, picking up her phone to check it, and she had about eight missed calls. All from her dad. And there was only one reason her dad would call her so many times.

There had to be something very, very wrong.


	5. Chapter 5

Eli was walking through the school to the auditorium at the end of the day, just like every other day. He was heading to rehearsal for the fall play, which was never as big or as notable as the spring musical was. This was something that had always irritated Eli- no one seemed to understand or appreciate acting as an art. Plays in general, regardless of genre, took a good bit of skill to do and you had no music or amazing vibrato to hide behind.

The boy was suddenly hit with a body that was slightly harder than his, a flash of dark skin and a bright blue t-shirt and yellow shorts. "Marisol?" He asked the girl. "I'm so sorry, are you okay? I didn't see you..." He said, noticing only now that she was walking frantically away from him. "Mar? Hey, wait!" He said, sprinting after her and grabbing her wrist to turn her back to him, which she violently jerked away.

"Paws off, Goldsworthy!" She told him, still walking quickly.

"Marisol, what the hell is wrong with you?" He asked angrily, following behind her.

"None of your fucking business, so you'd best back the hell up before I slap you so hard you won't know the difference in prose and poetry." She said through her teeth. This time, Eli didn't follow her. He shook his head, confused at her actions. For a split second, he thought that she might actually be bearable to have as friend, but this little episode had done nothing in her favor. 'Whatever,' Eli thought. 'Only six more months of dealing with her and then we're out of here.' He thought.

Rehearsal was starting, and before he knew it, it was over with. Eli always liked to stay in the auditorium after rehearsals. He often just sat there staring at the stage in wonder, trying to figure out what the best way to put together a scene could be. Degrassi was doing Emma, a Jane Austen classic. It was about a girl who meddled in the relationships of everyone around her, but couldn't recognize that she was only causing trouble for her loved ones. He tried to envision the way that the stage could look during a production, but in truth, the play could be performed on a bare stage with two stools. It held its own and it didn't need a massive set to support it.

Eli got up, gathering his production binder and his bag from the seats and headed out to his bike. Even though it had been a good rehearsal, and he didn't feel like ruining his good mood, he knew he needed to call Marisol. The way she had acted had been weighing on his mind for the whole afternoon. What had been troubling her? She was obviously angry about something, and he wanted to know what it was.

Eli found his phone in his bag, unlocked it, and dialed her number.

"Hello?" She said, sounding fairly watery, her voice wavering. She was crying, Eli realized.

"Mar, I'm really sorry about this afternoon. Are you okay? You sound upset." He said, his eyebrows knitting together in concern.

"No, Eli, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been such a bitch, I just... I-" Marisol said, but her voice was cut off by a sob.

"Marisol, what's wrong? Calm down, you can tell me. Everything is going to be fine, I swear." Eli promised. He realized that he probably couldn't keep this promise, but it was worth a shot.

"No. No, it's not going to be fine. My mom, she- she collapsed today at work. She had worked a 24 rotation at the hospital, and she was exhausted, and her heart just... It just gave out, Eli." She said, her voice breaking. Eli sucked in a sharp breath. The poor girl.

"Does that mean..." He asked her.

"Yeah..." She cried out. Eli shook his head and bit his lip.

"Damn, Mar. I'm so, so sorry. Do you need anything? Because I can be there in a few. I'm on my bike, but I mean, it's a bike, so-"

"No." She said, her voice a little harder. "No, that's okay. But thank you. Actually, um, if it's not too much trouble, can I email you our creative writing assignment later this week? I don't think I'll be at school for a few days." Marisol told him. "I wouldn't ask, but I don't want to do an awful job and then get a bad grade. This is the class I need to graduate. So... Could you present it for me?" She asked him. Eli nodded, even though he knew Marisol couldn't see him.

"Yeah, Mar. Of course I will. Are you sure you want me to present it? I can just turn it in." He told her, feeling uncomfortable with the notion that he would be reading Marisol's prose. Besides that, what if it was really personal? Surely, Dawes would give her a break.

"No, I want you to do it. You're good at portraying words, not just saying them." She told him, her voice still quiet and watery. "Thank you, Eli. I'll... I'll see you in a few days." She said, hanging up on him. Eli sighed, wishing that there was something he could do. But he knew better than anyone else that sometimes in the event of a tragedy, you just had to be alone. When Julia had passed, he didn't come out of his bedroom for days on end. Bullfrog had had to force his door open just to get food through to him- Eli blocked it when either of his parents knocked. His hoard was starting because he and Julia were fighting, and he was afraid Bullfrog or CeCe may see. But really, what could he do? He couldn't lose an of his Jules. He had to figure out some way to keep her close. Marisol's loss was different, of course, seeing as it was her mother, but he could still relate. He knew she would need time. He would do everything that he could for her- because Eli got the notion that not everyone in her life did.


	6. Chapter 6

Oh my gosh, you guyssssssss. I love you all. I'm glad this story is pretty well liked thus far. I don't quite know yet what direction I want for it to take, but I'll figure it out. Do you guys want a romance or a friendship? That's my question at this point.

Thanks: Mack

* * *

It had been a week since Mrs. Lewis had passed away. A week without Marisol at school, and while most people would find it completely acceptable to have someone missing after a parent died, Katie could only think about herself. She was dealing with another stupid Drew breakup, and she really needed her best friend to lean on. She texted her, but wasn't expecting to get a reply back. Marisol was probably in rough shape, but that didn't make Katie any less irritated.

"Where is she?!" She asked to no one in particular during her lunch break, frustrated to death with her best friend. She walked out of the bathroom and into the cafeteria, going back to sit at her table, surprised to find Drew there. "What do you want?" She asked him, her voice filled with venom.

"Katie, would you please just listen to me? It's not about us." Drew told her, trying to sooth her with that annoying voice he always used when he knew he was in trouble, but he was trying to get himself out of it.

"Who's it about, then?" She asked, crossing her arms in front of her body defensively.

"Okay, well, it's kind of... Horrible." He said with a wince, waiting on Katie to say something else in her scary voice.

"Spit it out, Drew." She told him, irritated that he wouldn't just tell her what was going on.

"Have you heard about Marisol's creative writing speech third period?" He asked her, taking a seat across from her.

"What?! She's here today? Ugh, I can't believe she didn't text me back! I-"

"She's not here, Katie. Eli Goldsworthy presented it for her. The topic was secrets. Apparently, her assignment was to tell a big secret that she has without revealing any names. Dawes likes to start drama, obviously." He told her with a roll of his eyes. "But she definitely told a secret. A big one." He said.

"What do you mean?" She asked him.

"Katie, is it true that Marisol got an abortion freshman year?" Drew asked, and Katie immediately recoiled.

"What? No, obviously not. Where did you even hear that?" She asked him, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Haven't you been listening to me? Obviously true. Because it came from her assignment." Drew told her.

"No. No, Mar would never do that. And I'm her best friend, I would know about it. I mean, come on." She said, scoffing at her boyfriend.

"Well, lit looks like you two have got some talking to do. Because it's either a lie or you don't know her as well as you think you do." Drew said, turning swiftly on his heel and walking toward the CS hallway.

* * *

Marisol woke up the following morning to her alarm blaring some awful pop tune. She'd been in bed for the better part of the last week, save the days of her mother's recieving of friends and her funeral. She couldn't be bothered to do much of anything else. Her brother was home from Winnipeg, where he was a second string member of the Jetts hockey team, and he was dealing with it a lot better than her father was. Of course, Michael was only her half brother, the pair shared their father. Marisol's mother had only come along after her father got divorced. He'd moved to the US with his son from Jamaica, where his biological mother lived. He went to visit her every summer for a month.

In truth, Marisol was happy he was home. There was no way that she could have done things for her father. Marisol valued her mother more than anyone else. She listened, and didn't judge prematurely, always making sure that she got the full story before she gave any kind of advice. Her mother had been an angel, and now she was actually singing with them. It was the saddest night of her life, that first one. She felt bad for snapping at Eli, but she was worried and had no idea what was going on, and she was in a hurry to get to the hospital and in no mood to talk. She was glad that he called her and asked her what was wrong, because it gave her a chance to apologize and explain. She was afraid if she called him, she would come off as needy, and that was the last thing she wanted.

As an after thought, Marisol thought that maybe it hadn't been the best idea to ask Eli to present her creative writing assignment, but when she got the topic, she realized that he had to. It was regarding secrets, and in the days after her mother's death, she was thinking a lot about the things that she had kept from her- the things that Marisol thought her mother would be ashamed of her for, her darkest secrets. Things that not even her best friend knew.

She emailed it to Eli, asking him to print it and not proof read it for errors. This piece of hers was something that was full of her own errors, things that she regretted and couldn't bring herself to face. Marisol knew that it would create a hailstorm of problems for her school life, but she knew that she would get an A for the assignment. She had to get up and face the day at some point, so she did, jumping into a cold shower. When she was done, she brushed her teeth in the bathroom and went back to her room. Her phone was buzzing, and she had about 40 notifications on her lock screen. Scrolling through them, there were a bunch of texts from Katie, a few from her family members wishing their condolences, and at the very top, there was one from a number she didn't recognize. Marisol opened that one, ignoring all the others, and read it.

_We need to talk. -O_

"Well." She said to herself. "Here goes nothing."

Driving her silver convertible into the Degrassi parking lot, Marisol was feeling completely isolated for the first time in her life. Everyone standing by their cars had swiveled their heads her way, but she kept her eyes on the road. When she parked, she took a deep breath, calming herself down and preparing herself for the worst today. She was expecting a lot of judgement, and a whole lot of insults, possibly the Friendship Club coming after her with a sackful of Bibles.

She heard a tap on her window, and there stood none other than Owen.

"Open up." He said, his voice muffled. Marisol unlocked her door, not looking forward to dealing with this.

"Hey." Owen said, his voice a mixture of anger and sympathy. Marisol just sat there and chewed her bottom lip. He sighed in exasperation.

"So. Your creative writing paper. It was all the rage yesterday." He said sarcastically.

"What about it?" She asked him, her eyes on the car in front of her, hands gripping the steering wheel.

"You know exactly what it's about, Marisol. We promised each other that night would stay in the vault." He said, turning towards her.

"It's not like I told anyone it was you, Owen." She told him.

"Well, it's basically the same damn thing. You essentially described me and told everyone about losing your virginity." He said. He was angry, but Marisol wasn't scared.

"Don't worry, I won't admit anyone it was you if someone asks me today." She said, wanting to get out of her car. They sat there in silence for a minute.

"What about the other part? Was that true?" He asked her quietly. Marisol scoffed.

"Do you really think I would lie about a secret?" She asked, looking at him for the first time since he got in the car.

"Well, I don't know why you would admit it anyway. It's gonna do nothing but cause problems for you." He told her. That was the last straw for her.

"I don't care! _I don't fucking care_, Owen! I don't care what people think of me. You know why? Because when shit hit the fan at school, the one person I could really turn to was my mother, and now she's gone. So excuse me for wanting to write it out. I have my reasons, O. I don't have to justify them to you." She said, starting to open her car door, but Owen leaned across and closed it. He looked up at her, his proximity making Marisol sweat.

"Was it- Was it mine, Mari?" He asked her, his voice cracking a little at the end. Marisol looked down at him, sadness in her eyes. It was her greatest shame, her biggest secret. Marisol had known Owen since they were kids, and when high school hit, they had each been curious about things. So they'd agreed to take each other's virginities. It wasn't as though either of them knew what they were doing, and it wasn't safe sex. What else could have happened? When she found out she was pregnant, she hadn't told anyone- she just went to the free clinic on the outskirts of the city.

"Yeah, Owen. It was yours." She said. Marisol climbed out of her car, tears threatening to befall her eyes. She turned back and leaned down to look at Owen. "Lock it when you get out, okay?" She said, putting on a mask, the way she always did when something was bothering her, but she didn't want anyone to know. It was an act, and today, it would be the best one yet.


	7. Chapter 7

Eli sat down in his third period creative writing class, waiting for all hell to break loose. When he'd read Marisol's piece yesterday, he hadn't been expecting the controversy beforehand. But of course, he listened to her request not to read it, because he figured it would be extremely personal. Secrets always were. He had given his piece to Ms. Dawes directly, because his was about Julia, and he didn't want to read it in front of the class.

But now, he thought that maybe reading Marisol's paper had created an even worse problem than he ever could have caused.

Eli understood why she did it. He could feel in the very font that she was hurting, grieving in the assignment, letting it fuel her words. She let it all out. She was talking to her mother. Eli could feel that. He thought that maybe these were things she had kept from her, and now she needed to say them.

It was a well-written piece, there was no denying that. Marisol walked in then, and the room went totally silent. She looked like her resolve was close to breaking, and her bottom lip was firmly between her teeth, her arms crossed defensively in front of her. She looked at Eli then quickly looked away, double-timing it to her seat. Once she was there, Eli reached out a tentative hand and rubbed her shoulder, hoping it might bring her a little reassurance. Marisol reached her hand up and covered his, patting it before they both retracted their limbs. The bell rang and Ms. Dawes walked toward the front of the class. "Ms. Lewis." She said, and everyone's heads whipped around to look at Marisol. The girl seemed to shrink in her seat. "Nice work. I applaud you for your honesty. Your piece was raw, and it was good to see that side of you. Thank you." Their teacher said. Eli nodded, his classic smirk playing over his face. He clapped once, twice, a few times, and his classmates joined in. For once, he was being genuine instead of a sarcastic prick like normal. She really did deserve a round of applause. Marisol turned to look at him, shoving his shoulder and laughing.

* * *

They walked out of class together that day, instead of going their separate ways and walking off. Eli knew she needed someone on her side today. After all, she did just admit that she lost her virginity to Degrassi's biggest jock. And gotten pregnant. He wasn't stupid, he knew that people were being harsh about it.

"How ya doing? I'm sure that everyone's giving you hell aren't they?" He asked sympathetically. Marisol nodded.

"Yeah, but you know what? I feel like... I don't know, like there's just this HUGE weight off my shoulders. All my secrets are gone. I don't have to keep things from people anymore." She said, and she looked relaxed. Sad, but relaxed. Eli gave her a smile, one that said he understood. Katie appeared down the hallway then, her gaze searching. When she laid eyes on Marisol, she got a determined look in her eye.

"Looks like the queen is about to do away with your head." Eli said. Marisol turned her head and saw her best friend marching down the hall way, a grimace gracing her face.

"You might want to get out of here, I have a feeling I'm about to be crucified." Marisol told him. Eli shook his head.

"I'm not going anywhere." He told her, leaning against the row of lockers and watching Katie quickly approach. Marisol turned and faced her best friend, her face a mask, but her eyes were vulnerable.

"Hey Mare. How you feeling?" Katie asked her, her voice insincere. Marisol shrugged, looking down at the floor.

"You wanna talk about what you wrote yesterday?" She asked, a little hostile. "Did you _seriously_ get an abortion, Marisol? What the hell? Why didn't you tell me about all of that?" She asked the dark girl, her gaze scornful. Marisol didn't say anything. Eli commended her- she was the definition of the silent martyr.

"Marisol. Really? You have _nothing_ to say to yourself?" Katie said, a look of disgust in her eye. Marisol shrugged again, crossing her arms tighter over her stomach. Katie rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Mar. I can't believe you wouldn't tell me this. I mean, we've been friends since the womb, basically, and you don't tell me something this huge? Come on, I-"

"_I've_ been friends with _you_ since Kindergarten." Marisol said quietly.

"What?" Katie said.

"You heard me. This has always been a one-sided friendship, Katie, you can't deny it. My entire life, it has always been you, you, you. Even my parents ask me, 'Why can't you be as smart as _Katie_ is? Why can't you be more like _her_? _Oh,_ that _Katie_ girl, I'm telling you stick with her, she's _going_ places.'" Marisol said sarcastically.

"What are you talking about?" Katie said, her voice shocked.

"Oh, like you don't know. It's _always_ been you, Katie, with everyone. Drew chose you over me. To be honest, you really shouldn't have liked him in the first place because you don't do that to your best friend. But_ you_ did it anyway. And then you got the student council presidency, and you almost got on the national under eighteen soccer team until you hurt your knee. You're probably going to get into your dream school and you have perfect grades. You have everything you've always wanted. And everything I've always wanted too. I don't want to do this anymore, Katie, I am tired of always coming second best to you. I can't tell you anything without it being all about you all the time. That's why I didn't tell you about everything. Because you would have made it about how you wouldn't want to be friends with a whore who got an abortion." Marisol said, her voice strong for the first time all day and full of venom. This had been a long time coming, it appeared. The dark girl shook her head. "Whatever, Katie. If it wasn't obvious before that you're the most selfish, self-centered bitch that anyone in this school has ever met, I'm so glad you gave me the chance to spell it out for you." She told her former best friend. Marisol turned around and started to saunter off down the hallway, heels clicking and hips swaying like nothing had ever changed. She never gave anyone in the small crowd that had gathered a second glance.

Eli smirked at Katie. "Sucks when you realize someone is right, doesn't it?" He said, and turned on his heel, walking down the hallway to Calculus.


	8. Chapter 8

They started out as friends. A duo with all their classes together. Each of them needed someone to lean on in high school, and they chose each other. Apart from Katie, Owen was Marisol's absolute best friend her freshman year of high school. They shared four classes, English, geometry, civics and health. But it was health where they had the most fun. From the beginning of the course, they hit it off. They laughed at all the little innuendoes their teacher unintentionally dropped. And when the second semester came around, they would sneak off during gym to explore each other.

They were two curious kids who were right at the brink of the time of their lives, and they wanted so much to just know things. To know about sex and love and being an adult and growing up. They just wanted a little taste.

Marisol's parents were away for the weekend, and they had asked her to make arrangements to stay at Katie's house. She was there practically every weekend anyway, so they didn't ask questions about whether she was definitely going. In fact, she wasn't going at all. She'd invited Owen over. It wasn't intentional, but they'd developed a bit of a game of house. It was over a three-day period of Friday, Saturday and Sunday; they cooked every meal that they ate together, and even slept side by side the first night. They were both nervous and skittish around each other for the first few hours, not truly getting used to having absolute freedom, but Saturday, they used it to their advantage.

"Maaaaaaari." Owen called, having run down to the gas station for a couple of two liters and some chips. Marisol was nervous. Like, really, really nervous. It was ridiculous how much. After all, it was just sex, right? They'd agreed that they didn't want anything emotional between them. They managed to stay friends, despite the fact they'd been hooking up in the boys' locker room for months now. But it had never actually come to this. They had both agreed that when it happened, if it happened, it didn't need to be on the floor of a gross locker room. It needed to be somewhat special. And this was the perfect occasion.

For Marisol's age, she was fairly well endowed, filling out the lacy purple bra she was wearing, her matching booty shorts displaying her round butt really well. She sat on her bed, looking around the room to make sure that everything was perfect. She was burning lavender-scented candles and there were enough to light it dimly. She heard Owen calling her name from down stairs, so she went to her door and yelled down that she was in her room, and for him to come on up. Marisol shut her door behind her, her hands shaking and her heart racing. She was nervous, but she went back to sit on her bed and a few moments later, Owen opened the door. His eyes popped and he dropped the chip bag when he saw her. Marisol let out a nervous tinkle of laughter.

"You look..." Owen started to say, but as his eyes perused her body, the words wouldn't come.

"Hot? Sexy?" Marisol asked, her face covered in a mask of worry. Owen shook his head and walked over to her, sitting on the bed next to her.

"Beautiful." He told her, running a hand down her arm and leaning in to kiss her. Marisol sighed in relief and kissed him back, her hands going to either side of his neck. She cared so much about him. All she wanted was to please him, to have some reason for him be affectionate towards her. They had decided to lose their virginities to each other, and how much more affectionate could you get than that? Owen pulled at the back of his shirt, stripping it away from his body and tossing it to the floor and then standing up momentarily to let his cargo shorts drop as well. He came back to her, nestling between her legs and resting on his forearms, brushing hair from her face. "You're amazing. You know that?" Owen said, and Marisol's heart filled, because she was fifteen and when someone told a fifteen year old girl something like that, she was going to believe it. Marisol smiled at him, pushing up on him a little so that she could unclasp her bra. The rest was history. The rest of the weekend was wonder filled, the young teens finding themselves craving more of each other each time they had sex. They found themselves still lying in Marisol's bed on Sunday night, tracing patterns on bare expanses of skin and wishing that they could make the day last forever.

"I don't want you to go." Marisol said. Owen shook his head.

"I never will." He told her.

Owen was lying.

* * *

It had been a few weeks since she'd slept with Owen, and she was nervous once again. He'd stopped talking to her, because she'd gotten attached, as do most girls to the boys who take their virginities. He dissed her in the middle of gym and he wasn't talking to her, texting her back, nothing. But Marisol couldn't bring herself to regret what had happened between them. It was a perfect night- a perfect weekend. There were no interruptions and no fears between them.

But they had forgotten something. A very small-and-in-a-foil-package something. Neither of them were really at fault for the slip up. They'd just gotten caught up in the moment, which Marisol knew was the most cliché excuse ever used, but it was true. And now she was paying for it. Marisol's period was late.

The day she realized, she went immediately to the drugstore after school, breaking her plans to study for a big media test they had the next day. Marisol bought it with her head down in shame, completely afraid of what the woman at the front counter would think of her, and she walked to her house, test in the pocket of a hoodie that Owen had left at her house. She'd worn it the whole day, hoping he would say something about it, but he didn't.

Marisol rushed through her house, not saying a word to her brother as she passed his room. It was his senior year, and he was probably working on homework. She walked into her room, locking her door and then the bathroom door behind her. Marisol did what she needed to and washed her hands, setting the test on the counter and sitting on her toilet lid. She set the timer on her phone for three minutes and waited. And waited. And waited. It felt like she'd been waiting forever when the timer finally went off. All she had to do was count- one line for negative, two for positive. She did; one... two. Marisol sat there for a minute, absorbing this shock. But she handled it just like she always did, with silence and internal reflection. On the outside, she was walking around like nothing bothered her, but on the inside, she was having a panic attack. _'What should I do who should I talk to should I tell Owen but I can't tell Owen he'd never support me oh my god I'm going to have to do this by myself I can't do this by myself someone help me before I die I can't do it I have to do it I can't but I have to please don't hate me._'

The following week, she scheduled an appointment for the free clinic across town, taking a bus to get there and claiming she was going to the dollar movie with some friends. The walls were bare and there was no one else in the waiting room, and afterward, Marisol didn't know whether to cry or be relieved. She went home, claiming that she'd eaten bad buttered popcorn, and she was home sick for three days, but no one ever knew the truth. Not her parents, not Katie, not anyone. And it had been her biggest shame.


	9. Chapter 9

Eli sat down for lunch that day feeling rather satisfied with himself. He was happy that Marisol stood up to Katie, and he knew that Marisol was too, but that didn't stop the hurt he'd seen in her eyes. He knew that she was still grieving. And now she'd more than likely ruined her relationships. He sat by himself at his lunch table. Adam was busy with Mano-a-Mano with Dave, and it wasn't exactly like he was on speaking terms with Clare. He thought about texting Imogen to see what she had going on, but decided against it.

The floppy haired boy was about half way through devouring his sandwich when he saw a figure stand before his table. Eli looked up and met eyes with Marisol, whose face looked stern and strong. "Is it okay if I sit here?" She asked him, and he nodded, moving his bag from the table. They ate quietly together for a while.

"So no Katie?" Eli asked her, looking down into his milk carton. Marisol shook her head.

"No Katie. No anyone. Because apparently admitting your deepest darkest secret publicly is taboo. Who knew, right?" She asked with a bitter laugh. Eli shook his head and gave her a sad smile.

"Some people have much deeper and much darker secrets." Eli told her, turning back to his food. He heard Marisol scoff.

"Yeah, sure they do. At my age, that's the worst thing a person can do." Marisol said quietly. Eli took a deep breath, wanting to relate his story to her, explain that it wasn't the end of the world.

"My girlfriend got run over right in front of me. We'd just gotten into a fight, and she ran out of my house, got on her bike and started down the road when she got hit. She died in my arms in the middle of the road." Eli told her, never looking up at her. He heard Marisol gasp quietly, saw her hand shoot up off the table and to her throat. Almost exactly what Clare had done when he told her. At least this time, Eli had come to terms with the fact that she died completely by accident, and it wasn't his fault.

"Hey." Marisol said, getting his attention. She just took his hand- she didn't have to say anything. After a minute, Eli cleared his throat, pulling his hand away from hers and patting her shoulder tenderly.

"I know that me losing my freshman year girlfriend is nothing compared to losing a parent, but I'm here if you need me. And I'm also sure that Dawes will understand if you feel like-"

"Whatever you're about to say, stop. I'm going to be okay. I don't need any leniency or whatever you think Dawes or any other teacher will give me. With the exception of Perino. I might just play that card with him because he's such a dick head." Marisol said with a small chuckle. Eli smiled at her.

"Do you want to come over tonight?" He asked her, and Marisol hesitated. "I think you just need a friend right now. It's not like you have Katie. We can binge on pizza and ice cream and it will be glorious." He said with a dramatic flare of his hand. Marisol laughed.

"You had me at the pizza." She said, getting up with a quick good bye and heading to her next class.

The Goldsworthy place was a lot warmer than Marisol thought that it would be. Eli just seemed like such a black-clad rocker boy that she was expecting that his home would be as such. CeCe Goldsworthy, Eli's mother, had transformed their home into a shrine to peace, with soft rock constantly playing in the background. It smelled like cookies and barbecue, which was what CeCe and Bullfrog, Eli's father, were having for dinner. In that order. Cookies and then barbeque. Marisol sampled before the pizzas arrived and she was enthralled- the sweetness of the barbecue went perfectly with the chocolate chip cookies. As soon as the pizza got there, Eli tugged Marisol up to his room with plates and a two liter.

His room was the biggest surprise in the house. Marisol assumed that it would be decked out in band posters, art, poetry, whatever creative outlet he could find, but it wasn't. It was pretty organized, though his desk was just a tad bit messy, but such was every working space. His bed was made, his floor was clean, everything was in order. She nodded her head appreciatively. "Nice to know you cleaned up for me, Goldsworthy." She told him. Eli shook his head.

"My room is always this clean. It's kind of a… Mental thing. Clean room, clean mind. Untidy room…" He trailed off with a shrug. Marisol nodded. She understood.

"They say that you have a better state of mind throughout the day depending on the way you see your room when you wake up." She said, trying to make him see that she agreed. He gave her a slight, crooked smile and she could feel herself relax a little.

"So how's your family?" Eli asked her, knowing that he should pry too much, but he wanted to at least assess her mental state. He saw himself as her friend now, and that's what friends did, wasn't it? "Are they all doing well? I can't imagine what your dad's been going though. Bullfrog would be completely floored if Cece…" Eli tried, and failed, to relate to Marisol, but the dark-skinned girl shook her head.

"They're okay. My brother flew in from Winnipeg to stay. He plays hockey and the season is over, so as long as he stays on top of workouts, he can stay for as long as we need him to. He's been taking really good care of my dad. The thing is, it's easier for him, because we didn't have the same mom. His mother lives in Jamaica, my mom was his step mom." Marisol explained, taking another bite of pizza. They were just about done with their final box, and Marisol was so stuffed that she could barely stand it.

"Well, it's good that you have someone more stable to lean on. It's necessary to have a rock in times of trouble." He told her. "Shall I go get the ice cream?" Eli asked her, and she nodded enthusiastically. Eli bounded down the stairs, going to the kitchen immediately. Bullfrog and CeCe were sitting at the table, enjoying more cookies.

"Oh, Eli. Is she… Is she alright?" CeCe asked, concern dripping in her tone. Eli turned to his parents and nodded.

"Poor girl. She seems sweet. I know you've talked about her before Eli, called her a ditz. But she's not. I feel like this has been good for you. You needed to learn not to judge people by the way the seem." Bullfrog said, getting up to pat Eli on the shoulder.

"You're right. I wish I'd have gotten to know her sooner. She's really very cool, laid back. She's loyal." Eli said with a nod. He took the ice cream out of the freezer and grabbed a couple of spoons.

"Tell her that she'll always have a place here, okay?" CeCe said quietly. Eli went over and kissed his mother on the temple and nodded his affirmation. He walked back up the stairs, opening his door and finding Marisol asleep on his bed. He sighed, putting the ice cream in the small freezer section of his mini fridge and going to the bed. Eli covered her with a blanket of his and grabbed one of his pillows.

What was it about this girl? What was fostering a protective desire in him? It worried him, mostly for the fact that Eli knew Marisol was completely unattainable. Not that he ever would want to attain her… Or so he thought. Was it possible that he did like this girl as more than just his writing partner? He would never admit it, though, especially not at this point. She was in too fragile a mental state to be open to dating someone. Was that really what he wanted? Eli couldn't believe it. Surely he wasn't interested in Marisol Lewis. Denial had always been his best ally. Eli reached up to touch Marisol's hand, which had fallen over the side of the bed. Her fingers were warm and comforting. This was as much as he would allow. He probably couldn't handle it if he allowed for more.

That night, Eli fell asleep on the floor, and when Marisol saw it the following morning, she realized that they really were friends. She noted that they were holding hands- how long had they been that way? But Marisol didn't let go. She closed her eyes again, endlessly appreciative of how Eli was treating her. He knew she wasn't fragile, and that gave her a feeling in her chest that she hadn't felt in a long time. The desire to see how far it could go was infinite.


	10. Chapter 10

"So what about school?" Marisol asked, taking a bite of nachos. They were sitting in their regular booth at Little Miss Steaks, swapping their creative writing assignments for editing while Marisol worked, eating free nachos once again. It was the exact same scenario as a few weeks ago, only this time… This time there was something there that wasn't there before. Things were light, happy- they each knew that they wanted to be there, not just that they had to be. Anyone watching the pair would have thougth that they were on a date, but of course, that wasn't the case.

Eli shrugged at her question, sipping his soda.

"I dunno. I mean, I applied to NYU, god knows what will happen to me. I'll probably get waitlisted and wind up having to go to U of T." He said with a shrug, leaning back against the booth. Marisol shot him a look. "What?" He asked after a moment.

"Have a little faith in yourself, Goldsworthy! I don't think they would waitlist you. In fact, they'd be stupid to do it. U of T is not the right place for you. You need to be somewhere big, somewhere busy. U of T is for people like me who want exposure to outside culture but don't want to be too far from home." Marisol explained. "You can't lose sight of what you want ultimately, Eli. It's not fair to you." She told him.

Eli considered for a moment. It was surprisingly sound and encouraging advice. "Thanks, Mare." The dark-skinned girl shook her head.

"Don't mention it. I'll be back soon." She told him, getting up from the booth to go back and work a few tables. Eli waited patiently for her to finish a few of them, and when she got a few minutes, she returned.  
"Sorry about that." She said, and Eli immediately waved her off.

"It's fine, don't mention it." He said with a lopsided smile. It made Marisol's heart melt a little. She smiled back and took another nacho.

"By the way, I think you can do far greater things than U of T." Eli said, looking down at her creative writing assignment again. "I mean, you've gotten better in the last weeks, who knows what kind of potential you have?" Marisol shook her head and laughed as he spoke. "What? I'm serious!"

"Well, it's sweet of you to say, but I seriously doubt I could make it anywhere like NYU, or afford it for that matter." Marisol told him.

"There's this little thing called financial aid and a student visa."

"Yes, I know that. But come on. Do you really think that I can get any kind of financial aid? My dad is a chiropractor and my mom was a nurse. That's a pretty large income. And I already did all of my applications." Marisol told him, a dark cloud coming over her a bit. Eli sighed, knowing he'd upset her. He hadn't necessarily been walking on eggshells around the girl, because she didn't need that, but he was trying to be careful about what he said.

"I… I didn't mean to upset you-"

"You didn't, Eli. I'm just telling you that not only do I have to stay close to home, I want to. My dad needs me, now more than ever. I can't just leave him alone in that empty house with nothing but memories, he'll go crazy." She told him. Suddenly, Marisol wished that she had more to do at work that night. She got up, telling him that she needed to use the restroom and then went to a coworker of hers, asking if she could cover another table. Considering that the majority of a waitor's pay is in tips, the coworker said no, and so she sulked back to the table. Eli had a guarded expression on, trying to figure out what to say.

"What did you think?" He asked, gesturing toward his binder. Marisol thought for a moment. The assignment had been on what qualities you'd like to see yourself with in ten years.

"Listen, by the time we all come back to the reunion, we're all either going to be mediocre or billionaires. Few of us will be billionaires and most of us will be mediocre, but you won't be. And I knew that before I read this assignment. You kind of made a joke out of it, to be honest, and that's not the way it was meant to be taken." Marisol told him. She looked up at Eli, and he nodded for her to continue. "While it's not completely unrealistic to imagine yourself as a famous director, this assignment wasn't about dreams. It was about the qualities we want to see in ourselves as adults. So tell me, what's one of the qualities you want to see in yourself?" She challenged.

Eli looked at her, almost dumbfounded by her monologue. He shook his head, unable to think clearly for a moment. When he could, he looked at her dead in the eye. "I want compassion. I want willingness to change. I want growth. And most of all, I want the ability to love." Eli recited. It was the final line of Marisol's own assignment. Her cheeks heated and she wasn't sure how to take what Eli was saying, if there was any way to take it correctly. "Marisol, I have never met a stronger person than you. You somehow manage to take care of yourself and your father, and yet here you sit, giving me excellent advice not only for this paper, but for the rest of my life. In truth, I want the qualities I see in you that you don't already see in yourself."

Marisol stiffened at this. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to react, but what she did know was that it felt like she'd been holding a breath and she was finally able to release it. Her eyebrows knit together and she leaned her forearms on the table, looking down at her hands. "I don't know what to say, Eli." She told him, shaking her head and giving him a shaky smile.

Eli shook his head. "There's nothing to say. I'm just telling the truth." He told her.

"MARISOL!" Her manager Juan called out to her, and she looked at him, then back at Eli, eyes full of regret.

"You know, one of these days, we'll be able to sit down and have a conversation over food while you're NOT working." He said with a sloped smile.

"If that ever happens, the food probably won't be free." She told him as she got up. Eli shook his head again.

"On a date, the food is never free. Not for me, at least."

Marisol's heart skipped a beat as she turned to walk away, the smile on her face only growing wider as she realized what he was implying. The next time she came back to the table Eli was gone, but the feeling she got when he smiled that crooked grin at her most certainly was not.


End file.
